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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my message for the president: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.